Rafael Caro Quintero
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Rafael Caro Quintero (born October 24, 1952) is a Mexican
drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...
who co-founded the now-disintegrated
Guadalajara Cartel The Guadalajara Cartel ( es, Cártel de Guadalajara) also known as The Federation ( es, La Federación, link=no) was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fo ...
with
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases ''El Jefe de Jefes'' ("The Boss of Bosses") and ''El Padrino'' ("The Godfather"), is a convicted Mexican drug lord Kingpin. He was one of the founders of th ...
and other drug traffickers in the late 1970s. He is the brother of fellow drug trafficker
Miguel Caro Quintero Miguel Ángel Caro Quintero (born 1963) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the Sonora Cartel, a defunct criminal group based in Sonora. Career The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) states Caro Quintero creat ...
, founder and former leader of the defunct
Sonora Cartel The Sonora Cartel, also known as Caro Quintero Organization, was a Mexico based criminal cartel. Upon the cartel's disintegration, its leaders were incorporated into the Tijuana Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel. By 2007, Sonora Cartel, Colima Cartel ...
. Having formed the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1970s, Caro Quintero worked with Gallardo,
Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo (August 1, 1930), commonly referred to by his alias Don Neto, is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel, a defunct criminal group based in Jalisco. He headed the organization alongside Miguel Ánge ...
, and Pedro Avilés Pérez by shipping large quantities of marijuana to the United States from Mexico. He was responsible for the kidnapping of United States
Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...
(DEA) agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, Camarena's pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar, the American writer John Clay Walker, and dentistry student Alberto Radelat in 1985. After the murders, Caro Quintero fled to
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
but was later arrested and extradited back to Mexico, where he was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murder. Following his arrest, the Guadalajara Cartel disintegrated, and its leaders were incorporated into the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...
,
Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...
, and
Juárez Cartel The Juárez Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Juárez''), also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, across the Mexico—U.S. border from El Paso, Texas. The cartel is one of ...
. Caro Quintero was freed from jail on August 9, 2013, after a state court concluded that he had been tried improperly. However, amid pressure from the United States government to re-arrest him, a Mexican federal court issued an arrest warrant against Caro Quintero on August 14. Caro Quintero was wanted for his involvement in drug trafficking as well as the 1985 murders. He was at large as a wanted fugitive in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, the United States, and several other countries. The United States offered a 20-million-dollar reward for information leading to his capture, the highest value among fugitives currently listed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Caro Quintero lost his final appeal to avoid extradition to the United States on March 27, 2021. Caro Quintero was arrested in Mexico on July 15, 2022.


Early lifestyle

Rafael Caro Quintero was born in the community of La Noria, Badiraguato, Sinaloa, on October 24, 1952. His parents, Emilio Caro Payán and Hermelinda Quintero, had twelve children; he was the oldest son. His father worked in agriculture and grazing, and died when Caro Quintero was 14 years old. With his father's absence, he worked alongside his mother to take care of his family. At the age of 16, he left La Noria and settled in Caborca, Sonora, where he worked in livestock grazing. Two years later, he worked as a truck driver in Sinaloa. He also worked at a bean and corn plantation in Sinaloa before deciding to leave his home state altogether to join the drug trade in the neighboring state of Chihuahua.


Criminal career

When he was a teenager, Caro Quintero allegedly began to grow marijuana on a small scale, at the ranch owned by his brother Jorge Luis. In less than five years, Caro Quintero managed to buy several other ranches in the surrounding areas and began to amass larger amounts of money and influence. He is said to have first worked for the drug traffickers Pedro Avilés Pérez and
Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo (August 1, 1930), commonly referred to by his alias Don Neto, is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel, a defunct criminal group based in Jalisco. He headed the organization alongside Miguel Ánge ...
before forming the
Guadalajara Cartel The Guadalajara Cartel ( es, Cártel de Guadalajara) also known as The Federation ( es, La Federación, link=no) was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fo ...
with
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases ''El Jefe de Jefes'' ("The Boss of Bosses") and ''El Padrino'' ("The Godfather"), is a convicted Mexican drug lord Kingpin. He was one of the founders of th ...
,
Juan José Esparragoza Moreno Juan José Esparragoza Moreno (born February 3, 1949), commonly referred to by his alias El Azul ( English: "The Blue One"), was a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. Originally a member of the Dir ...
, and others in the late 1970s. He has been cited as a pioneer of the drug trade in Mexico and has been described as one of the pre-eminent drug traffickers of his generation.


Personal information


Allegations of involvement in murders


John Clay Walker and Albert Radelat

Caro Quintero has been accused of ordering the abduction, torture, and murder of writer John Clay Walker and dentistry student Albert Radelat on January 30, 1985. According to the allegations, the two U.S. citizens were dining in a Guadalajara restaurant when they encountered Caro Quintero and his men as they accidentally walked into one of Caro Quintero's private parties. Caro Quintero is alleged to have then ordered his men to seize the U.S. citizens and take them to a store room, where they were tortured with ice picks and interrogated. John Walker died on the scene from blunt force trauma to the head. Albert Radelat was still alive when he was wrapped in tablecloths, taken to a park near the city, and buried. The men's bodies were found six months later, buried at the San Isidro Mazatepec Park in
Zapopan Zapopan () is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, the population of Zapopan city proper makes it the second largest city in the state, very close behind the population of ...
. The authorities believe that Caro Quintero had mistaken Walker and Radelat for U.S. undercover agents.


Enrique "Kiki" Camarena

Caro Quintero has also been accused of involvement in the murder of US
Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...
(DEA) agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar. In November 1984, the Mexican authorities raided a ranch known as El Búfalo in the state of Chihuahua, owned by Caro Quintero. The authorities reportedly burned more than 10,000 tons of marijuana – totaling a loss of around $160 million. Camarena, who had been working undercover in Mexico, was said to be responsible for leading the authorities to the ranch. This allegedly prompted Caro Quintero and other high-ranking members of the Guadalajara Cartel to seek revenge against the DEA and Camarena. In retribution, Camarena and his pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar were kidnapped in
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
on February 7, 1985, taken to a residence owned by Quintero located at 881 Lope de Vega in the '' colonia'' of Jardines del Bosque, in the western section of the city, brutally tortured, and murdered. Caro Quintero then left Mexico on March 9, 1985, with his associates and his girlfriend Sara Cristina Cosío Gaona. Mexican Judicial Police chief Armando Pavón Reyes, after receiving a US$300,000 bribe, reportedly allowed Caro Quintero to flee from the airport in Guadalajara, in a private jet, to seek refuge in
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. Pavón Reyes was fired shortly afterward, and was charged with bribery and complicity in the Camarena murder.


Philanthropy

Locals from
Badiraguato Badiraguato is a small city and seat of the Badiraguato Municipality in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It stands at . According to 2010 census, the city reported 3,725 inhabitants. The hamlet of ''La Tuna'', located 110 kilometres to the North o ...
, Sinaloa, Caro Quintero's hometown, recall that Caro Quintero was a benefactor in the area in the 1980s. The town's mayor, Ángel Robles Bañuelos, said in a 2013 interview that Caro Quintero financed the construction of a highway in Badiraguato and helped electrify the area. The mayor recalled that before the highway was built, it would take days for people to travel in and out of Badiraguato.


Arrest and aftermath

On April 4, 1985, Caro Quintero was arrested in Alajuela, Costa Rica, while sleeping in a mansion just from
Juan Santamaría International Airport Juan Santamaría International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría) is the primary airport serving San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located in the city of Alajuela, 20 km (12 miles) west of downto ...
and
extradited Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...
to Mexico on charges of involvement in Camarena's murder. He was sentenced to 40 years for the murder of Camarena and other crimes. The US also hopes to try Caro Quintero, and the DEA still has him listed as a wanted fugitive. Caro Quintero was first imprisoned at the
Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 The Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 "Altiplano" ( es, Centro Federal de Readaptación Social Número 1 "Altiplano") is the maximum security federal prison (originally called the ''Penal de Máxima Seguridad No. 1 "Almoloya de Juárez",'' ...
maximum security prison Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico. Even though Caro Quintero was to face a maximum of 199 years in prison, Mexican law during that time did not allow for inmates to serve more than 40. He just escaped. No longer captured. In 2007, he was transferred to another maximum security prison, known as Puente Grande, in the state of
Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
. In 2010, a federal judge granted him the right to be transferred to another prison in Jalisco. Caro Quintero's Guadalajara Cartel fell apart in the early 1990s, and its remaining leaders went on to establish their own drug trafficking organizations: in Tijuana, a large family formed the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...
; in Chihuahua, a group controlled by
Amado Carrillo Fuentes Amado Carrillo Fuentes (; December 17, 1956 – July 7, 1997) was a Mexican drug lord who seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Amado Carrillo became known as "''El Señor de Los Cielos''" ...
formed the
Juárez Cartel The Juárez Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Juárez''), also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, across the Mexico—U.S. border from El Paso, Texas. The cartel is one of ...
; and the remaining faction moved to Sinaloa and formed the
Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...
under the traffickers Joaquín ''El Chapo'' Guzmán and Ismael ''El Mayo'' Zambada. Caro Quintero's brother
Miguel Caro Quintero Miguel Ángel Caro Quintero (born 1963) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the Sonora Cartel, a defunct criminal group based in Sonora. Career The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) states Caro Quintero creat ...
succeeded him and formed the
Sonora Cartel The Sonora Cartel, also known as Caro Quintero Organization, was a Mexico based criminal cartel. Upon the cartel's disintegration, its leaders were incorporated into the Tijuana Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel. By 2007, Sonora Cartel, Colima Cartel ...
, which branched out of the Sinaloa organization. The United States government believes that Caro Quintero ran his criminal empire behind bars through at least six of his family members, by creating a front that laundered millions of dollars through a gas station, construction company, shoe factory, restaurant, real estate development companies, among others.


Release

In the early hours of August 9, 2013, a court ordered the immediate release of Caro Quintero after he had served 28 years in prison. After a motion by Rosalía Isabel Moreno Ruiz, who is a state judge and
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
, the
Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
state court ruled that Caro Quintero was tried improperly in a federal courtroom for crimes that should have been treated at a state level: when Caro Quintero was given his 40-year sentence in the 1980s, he was convicted for murder (a state crime) and not for drug trafficking (a federal one). The magistrate ordered Caro Quintero's release after he had served time for other crimes he had committed throughout his reign as leader of the Guadalajara Cartel. The release of Caro Quintero outraged the administration of U.S. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
; the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
said they were "extremely disappointed" with the drug lord's release and stated that they were going to pursue Caro Quintero for pending charges in the United States. The Association of Former Federal Narcotics Agents expressed their disappointment, too, but stated that Caro Quintero's release was a result of the corruption that besets Mexico's judicial system. Mexico's
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
Jesús Murillo Karam Jesús Murillo Karam (born 2 March 1947) is a Mexican lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as governor of the state of Hidalgo from 1993 to 1998. In 1998 he became Undersecretary of Pub ...
also expressed his concern vis-à-vis the case, stating that he was "worried" about Caro Quintero's release and that he would investigate whether additional charges were pending in Mexico. On August 14, 2013, a federal court granted the Office of the General Prosecutor (Spanish: ''Procuraduría General de la República, PGR'') an arrest warrant against Caro Quintero after the United States government issued a petition to the Mexican government. Once the Mexican authorities re-arrest Caro Quintero, the U.S. government has a maximum limit of 60 days to present a formal
extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
request. Mexico's Attorney General clarified, however, that if arrested, Caro Quintero cannot be extradited to the United States for the murder of Camarena, because Mexican law prohibits criminals from being tried for the same crime in another country. U.S. lawyers, nonetheless, may argue that Caro Quintero's initial trial was illegitimate in the first place and that
double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...
is not applicable. In order for Caro Quintero's extradition to be accepted by Mexico, the United States has to present other criminal charges and accept that he would not face the death penalty if convicted, because there are no laws for capital punishment in Mexico. Following Caro Quintero's release from prison on August 9, he was not been seen in public. There were rumors, however, that he had paid a visit to his hometown of Badiraguato, Sinaloa. On March 7, 2018, the Mexican military used Black Hawk helicopters to search for Caro Quintero, dropping Marines into the mountain villages of La Noria, Las Juntas, Babunica, and Bamopa, all in the Badiraguato Municipality, but their hunt was unsuccessful. Caro Quintero was among the 15 most-wanted fugitives of
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
. If arrested abroad, he would have been immediately extradited to Mexico. The US government offered a $20 million bounty for his capture. On May 26, 2020, Caro Quintero's lawyer filed for an appeal to drop not only more recent drug trafficking charges, but also charges filed against him in 2015 regarding the kidnapping and qualified homicide of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar, stating Caro Quintero did not have any chance of obtaining the financial resources needed to survive a new trial. In court documents, the lawyer stated “The plaintiff argues insolvency, because he says he is more than 60 years old, is neither retired nor has a pension, and given the fact that he is a fugitive from the law, cannot work or perform any activity to earn money.” The appeal was filed before the First Collegiate Court in Criminal Matters in Mexico City. Convicted former Guadalajara Cartel leader Ernesto Fonseca, “Don Neto”, is accused of conspiring with Caro Quintero in the murder of Camarena and the pilot, but was later transferred to house arrest due to his advanced age. In June 2020, it was revealed that Sinaloa Cartel's Los Salazar affiliate was now a major figure in Sonora's drug trafficking business. However, both Rafael and Miguel Caro Quintero had recently rejected offers to join the Sinaloa Cartel due to a fallout with the sons of imprisoned former leader
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo" (), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of th ...
over leadership status. Despite this, both were said to be on good terms with de jure Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who was now in poor health. Ex-DEA agent Mike Vigil continued to downplay Caro Quintero's role in the drug trafficking business and stated that "He will fall before he dies of old age." A Mexican court dismissed suggestions that the murder of Enrique Camarena was purely a Mexican affair and opened the door to extradiction on 1985 murder charges of the former DEA agent on March 27, 2021.


Capture in 2022

Caro Quintero was arrested in the settlement of San Simón, within the
Choix Municipality The Municipality of Choix is a municipality in Sinaloa in northwestern Mexico. Its seat is Choix Choix () is a small city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It is located inland, in the northernmost corner of the state. The city reported 9,305 ...
of Sinaloa on July 15, 2022 and later transferred to the maximum security federal prison
Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 The Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 "Altiplano" ( es, Centro Federal de Readaptación Social Número 1 "Altiplano") is the maximum security federal prison (originally called the ''Penal de Máxima Seguridad No. 1 "Almoloya de Juárez",'' ...
, also known as the "Altiplano". Simultaneous to the announcement of capture was a report of a
Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...
Black Hawk helicopter crashing in
Los Mochis Los Mochis () is a coastal city in northern Sinaloa, Mexico. It serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of Ahome. As of the 2010 census, the population was 362,613, which was 61 percent of the municipality's population. Los Mochis is th ...
, Sinaloa. The crash killed fourteen personnel out of fifteen aboard. There were contradictory statements to the press: the Mexican Navy denied any connection, while an unnamed U.S. official tracking the raid told CBS News that the crash was linked to the operation, but said Quintero was not on board. A press release from the Naval Secretariat of Mexico credited the capture of Caro Quintero in the bushes to "Max", a
search and rescue dog A search-and-rescue dog is one trained to find missing people after a natural or man-made disaster. The dogs detect human scent and have been known to find people under water, under snow, and under collapsed buildings. Applications A dog w ...
. Following these reports,
United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since March 2021 as the 86th United States attorney general. He previously served as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of ...
issued a statement addressing both the capture of Caro Quintero in Choix and the downed helicopter in Los Mochis: The
United States Ambassador to Mexico The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with Mexico since 1823, when Andrew Jackson was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to that country. Jackson declined the appointment, however, and Joel R. Poinsett bec ...
Ken Salazar also issued a statement the day of the capture:


Interviews


''Proceso''

On July 24, 2016, while still on the run, Caro Quintero gave an interview to '' Proceso'' magazine. In this interview he claims he did not kill Enrique Camarena. He told the reporter that after his release from prison, he was visited (separately) by "El Chapo" Guzmán and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. He claims he told them he did not want to return to the business. He also told the reporter that he was no longer a drug trafficker, and peace was the only thing he desired.


''Huffington Post''

''Huffington Post'' journalist
Anabel Hernández Anabel Hernández García (born 1971) is a Mexican journalist and author, known for her investigative journalism of Mexican drug trafficking and into the alleged collusion between US government officials and drug lords. She has also written abo ...
visited Caro Quintero in his home in
Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding ''municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of ...
, Sinaloa, in April 2018. Despite having security guards, Caro Quintero was no longer able to live the lavish lifestyle he had when he was a major drug lord, was now living in a shabby mountain home, and appeared to be aging and frail. During the interview, he rehashed that he wanted to be left in peace and that he also spends his days looking for drones. He also claimed he was suffering from a
prostate The prostate is both an Male accessory gland, accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found only in some mammals. It differs between species anatomically, ...
-related illness and had not been speaking to his wife Diane or any of his children. He denied allegations of being a senior leader in the Sinaloa cartel or being active in the drug trade. Former DEA agent Mike Vigil, who previously led the DEA international operations and was highly active in investigating Mexican drug operations, described Caro Quintero as "a shell" of his former self and stated that it was "ludicrous" to look into allegations that he might have leadership in the Sinaloa Cartel. Vigil stated, "Right now, we don’t have any information that he is actually working with anybody." It was acknowledged that Caro Quintero's cousin Sajid, who was arrested by US authorities in October 2017 and pled guilty to charges of drug trafficking and money laundering in a California courthouse on January 25, 2018, may have started these allegations in order to make a deal with prosecutors.


In popular culture

Caro Quintero is portrayed in '' Narcos: Mexico'' by
Tenoch Huerta José Tenoch Huerta Mejía (; born 29 January 1981) is a Mexican actor. He has appeared in a number of movies in Latin America and Spain, starring in both feature films, short films, and '' Narcos: Mexico'', credited as Tenoch Huerta. He is fe ...
.


See also

* Mexican Drug War


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caro Quintero, Rafael 1952 births Living people Fugitives wanted by Mexico Fugitives wanted by the United States Guadalajara Cartel traffickers Mexican drug traffickers Mexican drug war Mexican crime bosses Mexican money launderers Mexican people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Mexico People from Badiraguato Municipality People named in the Panama Papers People sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act